Literacy and Pedagogy

Assignment Responsibilities and Descriptions







1. Setting-the-stage-assignment: You will identify an issue of teaching and learning in your field and contextualize it in a college classroom. You might describe a scene where you were the teacher, or the student, and something happened that bears reflection. That "something" can be and ideal moment you want to make happen again, or a not-so-pleasant, even nightmarish one you want to avoid. Or it might be a scene of instruction from your favorite literary, theoretical, or visual text. Whatever the scene, you need to articulate what you think are its "literacy" presuppositions and goals and to imagine the "pedagogy" necessary to foster them. You should return to and re-examine this scene throughout the course. Your response to this assignment should not exceed one page. Due date: Second Week. (Make enough copies for all in the group.)

2. I will ask you to write four short (one page, single spaced) critical responses to four of the assigned texts, preferably two on literacy, and two on pedagogy. (Plan to bring copies of your response for all members of the class.) Your task will be to identify what you think is the most important issude raised by the author(s). Whether you are going to dispute, or explicate, or extend what they write, you will need to identify and make visible what you think are each author's assumptions about that issue, and assess their implications for teaching and learning. Think of these short papers as prods for discussions. Due date: the day the text you have selected will be discussed. (We will have to plan carefully so that you don't crowd your responses, and each text gets an even distribution of responses.)

3. Twice in the term you will be responsible for framing our discussions. On one of these occasions, you should describe the scene of instruction you set up in your first assignment (we should all have a copy of it), or an issue that initially puzzled you, still puzzles you, or that is becoming increasings central to your investigation, and then proceed to articulate how you would frame it now in light of the theory of literacy or pedagogy proposed in one of the texts you will have read. Although your reflections will grow out of your own experience, your presentation ought to be relevant to the group. The focus of the presentation will be your choice, but it too should serve to advance not only yours, but our collective understanding of literacy and pedagogy.

4. Final Paper: On a topic of your choice, but in consultation with me. Selection of topic to be made by November 6. Due Date: December 5. Length: 15+ pages.

I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE ASSIGNMENTS

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